If you have purchased any of my novel studies, you know that I love using index cards to teach vocabulary words. Working with index cards is both fantastic and frustrating. Students often lose a few when notebooks are dropped. I wanted to develop a small/no-cost solution to prevent students from losing their cards. I wondered, what could I use for storage boxes? This post will go over two ways to turn ordinary ‘trash’ into vocabulary card storage boxes.
One morning, while fixing a cup of tea, I realized that a tea box is the perfect size for storing index cards. This made me wonder what other packages would work. The plastic storage containers for Extra chewing gum work well if the index cards are trimmed down on one side. I’m including instructions for both projects below.
Vocabulary Card Storage Boxes – Extra Chewing Gum
Using Extra Chewing Gum storage boxes, you can have storage boxes ready for index cards in minutes. First, remove the cardboard from the plastic container. It slides right out.
The boxes are the correct size vertically, but too short horizontally. For standard 3 by 5-inch index cards, you must cut off one inch from one side to create 3 by 4-inch cards.
Three-by-four-inch-sized cards fit perfectly inside the plastic box.
Vocabulary Card Storage Boxes – Tea Boxes
Different companies use different measurements when creating their packaging. These three will work, but I prefer the design of the Twinings box the best.
Step 1
Open one box to use as a template. Do not open the other boxes.
Step 2
Place the template on the backside of Con-Tact paper. Trace around it with a marker. Important note: Add an extra inch to the pattern on the lid of the box. By doing so, the Con-Tact paper can be folded under for a neat edge. After tracing the box, cut out the shape.
Step 3
When using a Twinings box, cut off the bottom of the logo to make the box have a straight edge.
Step 4
Remove the wax paper backing from the Con-Tact paper.
Step 5
Wrap the Con-Tact paper from the front to the back of the box, saving the sides for last.
Step 6
Fold in tabs on the sides and lid areas before wrapping the side pieces and the front of the lid.
Step 7
Fold the front lid section over the inside of the box for a neat finished edge on the lid. You may need to trim off any Con-Tact paper that sticks beyond the edges of the box as it is sticky.
As you can see in the photo, the box is the perfect size for storing index cards.
Using Index Cards to Teach Vocabulary
Here is a video I put together to show my teaching method using index cards.
